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Over one-third of all U.S. adults -- 35.7 percent -- are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When dieting, exercise and drugs prove insufficient to reduce their weight, some severely obese adults seek help from health care workers in the field of bariatric medicine, a specialty that deals with the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity. Bariatric patients are usually seen by teams that include surgeons performing various types of stomach and intestinal operations and many other types of health care professionals.

Background

The first bariatric surgery operation was carried out in 1954. Typically, bariatric surgeries involve rearrangements and removal of parts of the stomach and intestines in an effort to reduce the amount of food absorbed by the digestive systems of severely obese patients. Within the last 20 years lap-band surgery, which places a large inflatable rubber band around the stomach, separating it into two sections, has become popular. Bariatric surgery is usually performed on morbidly obese patients, defined as patients who weigh 100 pounds more than their ideal body weight.

Bariatric Teams

While publicity about bariatric medicine usually focuses on surgeons performing complicated operations, the complexity of caring for bariatric patients requires a team of additional health care workers, including bariatric psychologists and social workers, dietitians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, exercise physiologists, program administrators and insurance coordinators.For example, bariatric psychologists and social workers usually evaluate patients prior to surgery to determine if they are emotionally motivated enough to make necessary post-surgery lifestyle changes to maintain weight loss. Bariatric psychologists and social workers sometimes provide post-operative emotional support for patients.

Education and Training

Because each health care profession involved in bariatric medicine has its own education and training requirements, qualifying examinations, standard salaries, and job growth rates, people interested in entering the field of bariatric medicine need to review the benchmarks of the particular health care professions that interest them. For example, a future bariatric dietitian or nutritionist would have to earn a four-year bachelor's degree in nutrition or dietetics, complete a supervised internship at a health care facility, and pass a national examination to become a Registered Dietitian, conducted by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), dietitians earned a median yearly salary of $53,250 in 2010, and job openings for dietitians were expected to grow by 20 percent between 2010 and 2020.

Outlook

Obesity is increasing so rapidly in the United States that a 2008 study published by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania suggests that 86 percent of all Americans will be overweight or obese by 2030. The increasing prevalence of obesity suggests that there will be a growing number of jobs for health care professionals working in bariatric medicine. People interested in joining a bariatric medicine team should review the online job boards of organizations that serve bariatric medicine professionals, including the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP), the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the National Association of Bariatric Nurses and the Obesity Society (NABN).

2016 Salary Information for Dietitians and Nutritionists

Dietitians and nutritionists earned a median annual salary of $58,920 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, dietitians and nutritionists earned a 25th percentile salary of $47,200, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $71,840, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 68,000 people were employed in the U.S. as dietitians and nutritionists.

About the Author

Robin Elizabeth Margolis is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area. She has been writing about health care, science, nutrition, fitness and law since 1988, and served as the editor of a health law newsletter. Margolis holds a bachelor of arts degree in biology, a master's degree in counseling and a paralegal certificate.